Citizens targets once in a century storm cover

The board of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation has approved a recommendation for Citizens to purchase adequate coverage to handle a 1-in-100 year hurricane.

Barry Gilway, president, chief executive officer and executive director, said that Citizens is on target to enter the 2015 hurricane season ready to pay claims on a once in a century storm without having to assess Florida policyholders.

Facing the prospect of an $11.6 billion assessment only three years ago, Citizens now is expected to have enough surplus and reinsurance coverage to protect its customer base, which has fallen from a high of nearly 1.5 million in 2012 to 727,000 and is expected to drop further in 2015.

Gilway said: “Thanks to the hard work of dedicated Citizens employees and a steadily improving private market, we are on the verge of eliminating, in the event of the 1-in-100 year storm, the need for the dreaded ‘hurricane tax’ that has hung over heads of Floridians for far too long. This is incredibly good news for Citizens policyholders and all Floridians who have been on the hook.”